Fight of Fancy
by AshioTeNerdio
Summary: There's nothing worse than being stuck alone with your crush- except when they don't seem to reciprocate your feelings, and they're more interested in your best friend. Will Bentley be able to win Penelope over with sheer brains and bravery, or will she be permanently infatuated with Sly's physique? Any reviews with Sly 4 spoilers or even subtle plot hints will be removed, thanks.
1. Chapter 1

**Blood Bath Bay, 3.23am**

I'm scribbling up some plans based from the information Sly got from Black Spot Pete. My eyes water behind the grubby lenses of my glasses. I gaze up the clock, and I notice how late it is. I really should get some sleep, but I have to finish these plans first.

Wait a sec, I normally get some plans up in no time- why is this taking so long? I can't think, maybe I should get a drink to try and settle my nerves. I grip the wheels of my chair and skilfully manoeuvre to the counter, where there's a bottle of water on the side. Since I can't reach the sink or the fridge myself, I have to rely on the others to leave stuff on the side for me.

Humiliating, I know, but that's the way it goes.

I wheel back to the table and rotate the lid of the bottle. It turns with a crisp _crack_ that echoes slightly in the quiet room. I take a quick sip before resting the bottle back on the table.

Back to work then. I gently flex my hands as they have gone slightly numb from overworking. I gently take my glasses off and carelessly chuck them onto the table as a signal of resignation. The thought of sleep is so inviting, yet I must continue with this work. I must! I grip the pen again, the cold plastic pleasant against my warm hand, and wrack my brains in the hope of a semi-decent plan.

There's something distracting me, but what?

I hear soft footsteps coming down the stairs. I quickly cram my glasses back on my face and look as if I've been working non-stop.

"Bentley?" I hear a sweet voice, which makes my stomach flutter. "What are you doing up at this time?"

I stretch and prepare to explain my 'work' until I realise it's Penelope. Everything grinds to a halt in my intelligent cranium.

"Uh, nothing... I'm... just working on some plans, that's all..." I stutter. Great job, I just sounded like a complete idiot!

She flicks her side-swept fringe out of her face. I notice she's in a dressing gown, and her hair isn't tied up for once. What a change, huh?

"May I...?" She points to the paper with my quick scrawls over it, gesturing as to whether it would be OK for her to read it. I can't say anything as my voice has caught in my throat, so I just nod like an idiot.

"I think I know the problem..." She says as she frowns.

"You do?"

"Yeah, you need to find a chest of some sort, but it isn't going to be easy forcing Sly to go through each keep one by one, so I think it would be useful if we used my Hover-Spectrometer to scan the different buildings. We collect the data, and then we go to each likely candidate one at a time. It might save us some time."

It's the plan I needed. I just grin. So many things I want to say; _That's amazing, Penelope!; That's the best plan I've ever heard!_

_I love you._

Wait, where did that come from?

_But it's true, you know it Bentley._

My conscience is right, it's true.

She quickly scans the other plans, and smiles as she notices that everything pieces together now- just like I did.

"The rest of these plans are pretty good Bentley."

I feel myself blush and murmur; "Thanks."

A deafening silence fills the room as things go awkward and the conversation dies, the small fan of my laptop whirring is the only sound present.

"Anyway, goodnight..." She drifts off before walking to the stairs. I pretend to resume my so-called 'hard work', and I hear; "Goodnight, genius".

Needless to say, my stomach does six back flips! A compliment from Penelope- and I wasn't supposed to hear it either!

Yes!

* * *

The slideshow was so easy to piece together after Penelope's help. As I conclude the presentation, I notice Penelope looks... I don't know... impressed? It's hard to tell, but- wait! I get a small thumbs up from her.

I think I can recall that she even perked up when I mentioned I would be working with her. I know I certainly did when I figured that we would have to work together!

I've just realised, I'll be sitting in the safe house alone with her as Murray and Sly will go to take out the harbour patrol. I think of various conversation starters which I could use, but a majority of them are so cheesy.

I'll guess we'll have to see how this plays out, huh?

* * *

"Nice slideshow." A voice chirps behind me. Penelope.

"Why, thank you, you're too kind." I say behind a nervous grin. "But it wouldn't have worked as well if you hadn't told me about the Hover-Spectrometer."

"I guess we'd make a perfect team, huh?" She folds her arms in a casual fashion, almost as if she's more relaxed to be herself around me now.

"Uh, yeah... I hope so..." I stammer. Why do I always do this? Get a grip of yourself, Bentley!

"I know so. Even without the Hover-Spectrometer idea, the original notes would have worked as well." She looks a bit more serious, probably because these are genuine thoughts and opinions, and because she's recalling my original ideas she read, written in my hasty, but somewhat neat handwriting.

I can say that this is an educated guess as to what she's thinking, because I've reached the same conclusion.

"I have to say, it will make things much simpler." I reply.

"Indeed." And with a nervous smile, she walks off.

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited for our first heist together. I've just got to make sure I don't try to show off or anything. I feel Penelope is/was so turned on by Sly because he is naturally a good athlete, and he doesn't brag about it either.

Modesty is the key to her heart Bentley, bear that in mind.

And maybe some added heroics won't hurt either, since for one to be brave, you have to face up to your fears. And believe me, I have many fears...

But if it means I will be with her, I will do what ever it takes. I'll fight to protect her. I'll do anything for her.

Absolutely anything, and that's a promise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Blood Bath Bay, 4.26 am**

Murray and Sly are leaving to do their job- taking out the harbour patrol, allowing us to sail out to Dagger Island without any complications. And I'm left with Penelope, so I'm pretty nervous. I clutch the wheels of my chair and move back and forth a bit to attempt to transfer the nervous energy accumulating within me into something more... kinetic- even if it is me just fidgeting. There's just an awkward silence between us. A faint beep from my laptop breaks the silence in the room.

It's Murray. I click the 'answer' button and say; "Ok Murray, I need you and Sly to blast the rudders off all the galleons in port." I hear a faint sigh of infatuation from Penelope. I have a feeling she still kinda likes Sly... but it may be fading away, as if she's developing feelings for me as well- who knows?

"With their boats disabled, the pirates won't be able to chase after us when we sail for Dagger Island." I continue, hoping I didn't hesitate long enough for Murray to think something was up on my end.

Murray pipes up instantly. "What about those boats out there at anchor? They look ripe for a breaking!" I can see a small smile from Penelope out of the corner of my eye, and I'm trying not to smile myself. Murray always has to destroy any item he encounters- valuable or not.

I feel like I'm losing my focus, and continue with the mission briefing.

"Don't worry about it, the pirates won't have time to row out and get them rigged before we're gone. Besides, once you start shooting at the rudders the harbour patrol is sure to show up." I say in a slightly more confident fashion. Maybe the confidence will break the ice between the two of us with a compliment?

"That sounds like a job for a man of my many destructive habits." Murray chirps back excitedly.

"You... said it." I lamely finish. I can tell Penelope is trying to not laugh at me. "Take out the harbour patrol and there'll be no one left to chase after us when we "appropriate" a pirate boat."

I scan the feed from Murray's binocucom, and see Sly effortlessly leap from the mast to the pier. I can tell it's got Penelope's attention, because she moves closer to the computer on the table in front of me. Drat. Time to wrap this up. Quickly.

"It looks like Sly's done unlocking the jollyboat. Good luck sailor." And with that, I hold the conversation. I lean back in my wheelchair and let out an exasperated sigh.

"What's wrong Bentley?" Penelope asks in a concerned tone.

"It's nothing, I'm just tired." I reply half-heartedly.

"Did you even get any sleep last night?"

"Nope." I receive a scowl from her. I don't think my _I-don't-care_ attitude is gelling with her well.

"Not even a little nap?"

"Uh-uh."

I watch Murray leap into the jollyboat from the window, and return to the call. "OK boys, Murray rows and Sly mans the cannon." I put it on hold again. We can both easily hear the cannons firing from here, and we're both slightly worried. Ever since my little accident last year, Sly, Murray and I all know that no plan will go 100% safely, even with my methodical planning.

But Neyla- no, Clock-La carrying the safe house down to Paris wasn't part of the plan now, was it?

I hear wood splintering from the computer, so I quickly say to them; "Nice going guys, you're really working as a team." Time for some humour. "That boat's not setting sail any time soon." I finish with a devilish grin, which Penelope returns. Nothing else is said.

I think I'll try and break the ice. "You know, your RC skills back in Holland still impress me..." I say oh-so stupidly.

She blushes a little. "Thanks." She says warmly. "But those guards deserved it!"

"They were your guys." I playfully shoot back.

"Indeed, but they were working for Muggshot! And I'm so glad I was able to turn my back on the part of my life." Her gaze leaves mine and she stares at her shoes instead. "Look, I noticed when I joined the gang you sorta turned a bit cold on everyone- and I know that was my fault. I'm sorry about that, since I knew you a bit better than anyone else. It wasn't fair on me to turn my attention to the others." There's a genuine tone of remorse in her voice, and I feel guilty for being so selfish then.

"No, I'm sorry for being so ignorant and big-headed, Penelope. After all, you were the new member of the team, and you were trying to make a decent first impression..."

I suddenly notice the cannon fire dies from outside, and quickly contact Sly and Murray. "You guys are doing great, but it's time to bump it up a notch. The harbour patrol has arrived!" I exclaim.

"They look pretty well-armoured." Sly replies warily. "Is this cannon gonna cut it?"

Darn. Time for some quick-fire thinking.

"You're right Sly, Murray needs to ram them with your jollyboat to knock off the armour."

"Alright!" Murray yells, almost deafening me. "I'm tired of dodging cannon balls, time to crack some skulls, jollyboat style." I shake my head- I'm certain the big guy's gotten more violent ever since his Dreamtime training. The irony pains, yet humours, me.

"Once Murray has knocked off the armour, you'll need to sink 'em with a well-placed cannon ball." I said smugly. I know they'll pull it off quite nicely. Penelope and I hear Murray's semi-offensive battle cry, look at each other, and burst out laughing.

"Aw man, Murray gets so worked up doesn't he?" Penelope chuckles.

"Indeed he does! He used to be so scared of everything only just 3 years ago!" We exchange small smiles before things get awkward again. I'm hoping things are awkward because she has a thing for me, and not because we don't know each other well. In fact, our conversations when we first spoke were so much more confident... so maybe she does like me?

"About the ignorance thing, it happens to the best of us Bentley." She continues from her previous confession. "I was so obsessed over winning ACES year after year, I was certain of dismissing all my staff if I lost this year's ACES."

"I heard... I was in your team's hangar when you announced it..." It probably isn't the best thing to say, but I did get past those art decription locks. They did provide a feeble challenge.

"You were in Team Black Baron's hangar?" She asks in disbelief.

"Well, yeah I-"

"How did you get up there?" She queries.

"Sly climbed up and knocked one of the catapults down." She nods slowly. "Don't worry- I wouldn't have been able to get up there any way, even without the wheelchair."

She looks as if she's thinking about her previous statement before a look of shock appears across her face. "Oh, sorry if I offended you... I didn't mean to sound as if you're incapable of doing anything in that chair..." She turns crimson.

"That's fine." I quickly say. "I understand there wasn't a switch on the top either, so maybe that was why you were so concerned?"

She seems to have calmed down. "Yeah, it was." She looks relieved. "The switch was actually inside the castle, but I had a guard posted there at all times."

"So... did you pick up on our activity during ACES?" I quietly ask.

"Of course I did, but it made me even more certain you guys were worth my time." She smiles again.

Be still my heart. "You knew it was us?" I wring my hands nervously.

"Hm, let me see... Team Cooper is new to the competition, and- boom- Team Iceland and Team Belgium believe they've been sabotaged by each other, my guards get taken out one at a time, the flight roster from my hanger is stolen and my windmills get hacked into. Nah, I never thought it was you guys."

She sticks her tongue out playfully. It's cute. Trying to prevent myself from melting, don't mind me.

She gazes out the window and her smile drops. "The... the... harbour patrol has a cutter!" She exclaims.

I curse and immediately contact Murray. "Uh, sorry guys... I wasn't aware the harbour patrol had a cutter. You're not done yet." I don't believe this... "Gads! That thing is massive!"

Sly comes on the line. "Everything has a weak point... just look at the mast. They've been patching it up for a while now."

"Sly's right." Murray observes. Isn't he always? "That mast will fall before our combined mightatude! No matter how many cannons they bring to bear, we will bear it!" Ok, now I'm just being a really arrogant individual...

"Not to sound like a wimp, but I vote we dodge their cannon balls." Sly chips in.

"Or we can dodge, that works too." Murray nods enthusiastically before he makes his attack. My eyes are starting to burn. I may be coming down with a cold or something due to the lack of sleep. I rest my head on the table.

* * *

"Team Excellence does it again!" Murray cheers. "Nice shooting sidekick!" I bolt upright.

"I fell asleep?" I ask Penelope. She nods. I notice there's a blanket on top of me. Her doing, of course.

"About a half hour at the best estimate." She whispers.

"Hey, we would have sunk without your rowing." Sly replies.

Stop. Humour time.

Uh... I'm feeling really, really arrogant again. Something's not right at the moment. I'm certain a cold is heading my way now. Illness does that, it makes you a horrible person at times- a very snappy, irritable individual.

"When you guys are done making out, I'll see you back at the safe house... sheesh!" And with that, I cut the call, bury my face in my hands and groan.

"Bentley, are you OK?" Penelope asks.

"I'm fine." I murmur. "Just really, really tired."

"Are you sure you'll be up for our job?" She asks.

I immediately sit up. "You bet, I mean, why wouldn't I?"

"You're tired, on the brink of being ill from the looks of it. Bentley, you look like crap, are you sure you'll be up for it?" She folds her arms angrily.

"Look, we have no choice Penelope, it's now or never!" I reason pathetically. She looks so adorable when she's angry, so I can't be angry myself...

"Fine." She stands up from her chair. "By the way, your attempt to be angry was kinda cute." She smiles in an awkward way.

Cue the pathetic little squeal you'd hear from the fan girl within me.

Sly and Murray come in through the door. "So Bentley... have you finished making out as well?" Sly jokes. Penelope turns bright pink.

"I'd suggest we go now, right Penelope?" I ask, gripping my wheels tight, ready to whiz out the door.

She nods, obviously embarrassed. "Yeah, let's go! See you guys later!" And we hurry out the door. Fast.


	3. Chapter 3

**Blood Bath Bay, 4.47am**

Penelope gently closes the door behind us, and the crimson hint to her face fades. She walks beside me, ensuring that she doesn't go too fast. It's a sweet gesture, but I feel that it's based more on sympathy. I'm perfectly able in this chair, thank you very much.

"What do you think Sly meant by "have you finished making out as well"?" Penelope asks thoughtfully.

"It's just his sense of humour, don't let it distract you." I reply, desperate to change the subject. This is going awkward. What if the cat is let out of the bag on my end, and she doesn't reciprocate? I'd die of embarrassment!

"Well... maybe he's assuming that we should be together or something? Like what kids do at school, y'know?" She seems distant, like when she watched Sly jump around on those bamboo shoots in China. My heart leaps. Did she really just say that? What do I say?

"Well... uh... you know Sly has a thing for Carmelita... maybe he's trying to get me back for the joke I said last time." I stutter.

"Which was?"

""So you've been with Carmelita, 'saving' her?" I asked.

"Sly says; "Yeah, so what?", so I just nudged Murray and we both started laughing."

Penelope nods slowly, as if she's seeing where I'm getting at. "I see. Anyways, Bentley, you make sure the hover-spectrometer is all set up OK?"

I nod, say: "Yeah, sure thing.", before wheeling off, feeling a slight grin creeping across my face.

_"... maybe he's assuming we should be together or something?"_ Haha, that story never happened- Sly was always very open about his feelings towards Carmelita, not as timid and shy as I am with Penelope.

Awh, but if I let it out just then...

Drat. Curse my timid thoughts. That's probably made it worse, not being honest. Abso-freaking-lutely brilliant, Bentley...

I may never get her now. I feel like my heart's already breaking.

* * *

The hover-spectrometer seems to be fully functional and ready for lift-off. I reach for my ear-piece to hear it better and say; "OK Penelope, I'm in position with your hover-spectrometer. I'll launch the device and you scan for metal structures that resemble a safe or chest, anything the treasure map might be stored in."

"Roger Bentley!" She replies eagerly. "Let's light this candle."

Oh my goodness...

"Be still my heart...! She made an obscure NASA reference! Why do the girls always have to go for Sly?! It's just not fair!"

"What was that? I didn't read ya." Crap, I said that out loud! I'm so thankful that she didn't pick up the exact details on what I said- or did she...?

Eep.

"Uh... nothing... I was just saying... that we've got... fair winds for lift-off." My quick-thinking brain has done it again! I'm in the clear- for now at least. "Let's do it!"

I launch the gadget, feeling the warm air blowing against my face, and watch as Penelope takes over. She skilfully manoeuvres it over to Skull Keep.

"The data's coming in. It's caching in the spectrometer's matrix..." I can tell she's really concentrating on the flying and the data collection. I really hope she isn't exerting herself. I can't really tell, but I'm not sure if someone's over the- the hover-spectrometer receives a gun shot. It's going down! DOWN! DOWWWN! It explodes into fragments all across the area. One lands beside me- which only just misses my head, I should note.

"No! We haven't downloaded yet!" She sounds like she's about to cry.

I think I should shed a positive light on the situation. "Ah, the pieces are still intact! The disc is shattered, but we can still retrieve the data." I weigh my words carefully.

"But it's broken, and I rig my gear to self-destruct if anyone tries to take it after a malfunction." Yep, she sounds like she's going to cry.

"Hmm..." I think to myself. "The disc will destroy itself if someone tried to pick it up... a-ha, what if we could read the disc's contents before touching it?"

"Right!" She says. I can tell that she's not in an _all-is-lost_ mood any more. "I could use my RC car to go out an collect the data. It's got the same code base as the disc and should be able to download its contents!" It's an outstanding plan, if I say so myself. Why is she so interested in Sly though? I can tell we're... made for each other? OK, so maybe I'm more cowardly than the others, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid and incapable as a result!

She sets her car off as I carefully wheel away from the disc fragment I'm near. If I accidentally catch it with my wheel, she'll be ultra-pissed with me, and we'll compromise the mission as a result.

Oh my gosh... she's such a skilled driver, it's... not even physically possible to say in the least. She collects the first fragment, and I inform her of the partial download I'm receiving. She collects another, and another! Within a few seconds of each other at the best estimate.

With each piece, I'm getting more certain we should hit Skull Keep. I'm wheeling back to the safehouse as she pulls her car up beside me. Damn, she's fast at this!

She turns to me, and my heart leaps again! "That does it, we should have all of the spectrometer data!"

"Hold on... hold on... I got it! There's a _massive_ chest near the top east-facing windows, let's go." She smiles at me gently. I do the same, but she blushes and turns away. I can tell she's a little scared to be wandering around enemy territory. Before she used to be able to operate from the safety of the safehouse. But then again, I used to be the same when I first went into the field.

The first time I went out resulted in becoming the last few months where I was able to walk, and I was really getting used to the danger- the thrill, even. Now this wheelchair makes me feel somewhat useless. Less efficient than before.

Penelope has a firm grip on the back of my wheelchair, and I can tell she's petrified! I carefully wheel at a steady pace as to not force her to go faster than her preferred speed. She walked slowly beside me earlier, so I guess I'll have to return the favour, right?

* * *

We get to the entrance to Skull Keep, but all the drawbridges are up. Great.

"This LeFwee guy is really on it. He must have seen the disc and raised all the bridges to the fort. There's no way in!" She says sadly. I have a feeling she's incredibly sensitive to things when she realises that she can't do physically- such as scaling a wall to attempt to get in.

Time to show my knowledge now! "I've dealt with guys like this before, they can't really trust their own men so they always keep an escape route handy... you just have to look around a little."

She looks really impressed! "Wow... Sly's really taught you a lot." Sly? _Sly?_ My heart plummets. I'm hurt, really bad.

"Sly? We're a team. In case you haven't noticed, I'm the brains of the operation, Sly's just the field man."

"Just "the field man"? Sounds like you're jealous." She retorts. Ouch, get the knife in deeper why don't you?

"Well..." Time to come clean, I guess... "Yeah, I wish I wasn't in this chair. I wish I could run on tightropes and jump on flag poles and all that stuff. But I can't." I lower my head slightly. It was hard for me to accept the sudden fact that I couldn't use my legs any more.

"You can do other stuff! Sly can't rewire a satellite or write ASCII code." I can tell this may be for sympathy again. Why is it always about the freakin' chair?!

"Sly can't even spell ASCII."

"Yeah, he's not the most technical guy." She's not in the day-dreamy state like she used to be when Sly's name is even mentioned. She even nearly passed out when I said Sylvester was his first name. I bet she thought that was incredibly '_sexy'_ or something like that.**  
**

"Hey, let's get moving! We won't find the back entrance just standing around." I wince slightly. "Oohho...! Sorry about that standing comment..." She blushes bright crimson.

"Give me a break Penelope, it's just an expression." I reply, trying to ensure she doesn't feel guilty. I start making my journey, and she's clinging onto my arm. I feel like it's going to drop off from the lack of blood circulation, she's so scared. We get to the path of boxes bobbing in the sea. I skilfully traverse my way across them, and Penelope does the same. I land on the platform, only to turn and watch Penelope miscalculate her jump. She slips into the sea, before reappearing with a look of sheer panic across her face. I carefully help her out of the cold water and ensure that she's OK. She looks frozen. Great.

And the door's locked. Double great.

I place a bomb by the bridge pillar. It detonates, and all we can hear are the waves, the echo of the explosion, and Penelope chattering of her teeth vehemently. We get a wriggle on, all the while I'm hoping she doesn't catch her death out here.

I bomb the last support and watch the bridge drop like a stone. We make our way up and see some scabby pirates standing there.

Before Penelope can say anything, I gently silence her and look up an potential hiding place. Our eyes lock onto each other briefly, and we nod in union.

"Agreed." She whispers. She sits on my lap and I boost us up there. She silently slides off the chair we lean closer for a better view of what's happening. I rest my hand on the wall in front of us. Penelope does the exact thing simultaneously.

Wait, she places her hand on mine... accidentally? I look at her and blush, but she gives me a smile and reassuringly squeezes my hand.

Why... this wasn't an accident! She's crafty... too crafty...

I'm resisting the urge to melt into a puddle of green turtle goo. Bentley, stop fooling around! I return the squeeze, and I can tell the sparks are flying between us now!

LeFwee and some other pirate are debating, though it's hard to pick up the precise details of the conversation. LeFwee looks distressed, the other fairly casual and laid-back.

Suddenly, LeFwee shoves the guy over the edge and yells; "BUT I DON'T WANT TO HEAR NO MORE OF 'EM!" He calls to another pirate, and...

"... double the patrols and keep and eye out..." They return inside, only to be replaced by a wave of more pirates!

"We can't get inside with these pirates guarding the door. Time for little swashbuckling!" The fear etched across her face seems to have evaporated.

"Penelope, despite the fact that you were a champion boxer, I'd suggest you stay up here." I say warmly.

"I appreciate the concern of my own personal safety, but why should I? I'm not weak given my size." She looks slightly offended.

"It's just... fists and swords aren't exactly the most fairest of fights. You should ask Murray, he'll tell you all about it." I reply, trying to shake those thoughts from my head, the last time Murray got into a fight with sword-wielding guards wasn't very pleasant.

"Whatever you say, so get going!" She pushes me playfully. "Just make sure you come back in one piece, OK?"

"S-sure thing." I stutter

"Promise me, genius?"

"I promise." She's reluctant to let go of my hand, so I have to convince her I will be back in one piece, by briefly hinting about the whole Clock-La incident by saying; "I've been through worse, and I managed to escape. Trust me on this one."

She nods and I leap right into the middle of the circle of pirates. It feels like hours before they notice I'm there. The all charge, so I hit back at them, dispersing them in various different directions. One returns to his feet almost immediately gets up and attempts to get back at me. I swipe at his feet, tripping him up. Three more pirates attempt to take me out. Instead, I deploy a bomb and initiate my chair boosters, so I'm high up from the blast radius. The bomb detonates wiping out the rest of the pirates.

I drop down, only to turn and see one more pirate cowering. He regains his senses and starts to move towards me, a sick, evil grin spread across his face.

"Uh-uh-uh!" I taunt playfully, resting my finger above the infamous bomb-deploying button. I can tell he's terrified now, and dives over the edge. I hear applauding from behind me.

"Bentley, that was amazing!" Penelope cheers. She hops over the wall and runs up to me. She even crouches down and gives me an awkward hug. This stupid wheelchair... ugh. Our moment of sentimental happiness fades, because we still have a job to do.

"Hm..." Penelope's ahead of the game here. "Looks like a standard double button lock system."

I nod in mutual agreement. "On three, in pirate!" Wait- what?

"One, two, three!" She says in a funny pirate accent. I'm caught completely off-guard, and my fingers only just brush the button. I hadn't positioned my wheelchair close enough. She turns her head, and it about to ask what had just happened, when I quickly say; "I was too far away to reach... so let's try again!"

She does her funny countdown again, and we press the buttons simultanously. The door opens, and I can see a treasure chest!

We did it!

We move into the room, and I feel the grin across my face drop when I notice the chest is surrounded with lethal traps.

"This must be it. I've never seen a security chest so thick with traps." It's unbelievable. I bet if I simply touched the chest I would be shredded into minuture, turtle fragments.

"I dunno..." She folds her arms, with her hand placed on her chin, obviously in deep thought. "Looks pretty straightforward... if I had my spanner set, this would be a cinch."

"Really? Let's go back to the safe house and get your tools!" I suggest, anything to spend more time with her is good.

"I'd like to stay here if you don't mind and study it some more." She requests. Awh...

"Sure, I'll be back in a flash." And I'm off.

* * *

I get to the safehouse to face the challenge of getting up the stairs. By myself... Sly and Murray aren't in, so maybe they've gone out for some old-fashioned mugging and pick-pocketing.

Right, this is how we do it. I remove the lap covering and slide out of my chair. I shuffle over to the first stair. I pull myself up onto the first one, and repeat the process around another dozen times. By the time I reach the top, my arms are burning.

I shuffle over to the door of Penelope's room, which, thankfully, was left ajar. It's so... neat. I notice the spanner set straight away- on top of the desk.

Crap.

I'm done shuffling, so I crawl over to the surface on my stomach, sit up again, and then try to reach the toolbox. Nope, that's not working. Instead, I reach over to one of Penelope's boots, and throw it up there, hoping it would make the toolbox easier to get a hold of. It smashes the computer monitor with a deafening _crash_.

Double crap. Penelope's gonna kill me. I attempt to reach up, only to latch onto whatever I can and tumble back, dragging the keyboard along with me. I send little keys flying everywhere as I flop onto my back and smash the keyboard on the wooden floor.

Yeah, Penelope's going to be pissed with me. But the edge of the toolbox is within grabbing range now!

Come on you stupid toolbox, come on! I heave myself up high enough to grab the box, only to catch the rest of the computer's wires surrounding it. I curse loudly as I pull down the computer- monitor and all- the toolbox, a few pencil pots and the boot. The trashed technology surrounds me. Seems I've also pulled down a notebook, I hastily write:

_Penelope,_

_I owe you: 1 computer_

_I'm dreadfully sorry._

_-Bentley._

I tear it out and rest it on the chair beside me, before grabbing the toolbox and dragging it and myself out the room. It's no simple task.

I'm at the top of the stairs when I say to Penelope; "I've got your spanners and I'm on my way back." I rest the toolbox on the stair below me before shifting myself down alongside it.

I hear Penelope say; "Great! But I think I've already got it." Oops. All that effort and destruction for nothing! Ugh... I'm so dead now...

"This is it! The Dagger Island treasure map!" She announces.

I move down another stair. Suddenly, I hear Penelope's panicky scream in my ear. I topple forward in terror, taking her spanner set along with me. I tumble down the wooden stairs, only to land at the foot of the chair. I hoist myself up and get out as fast as I can!

I feel sick to the stomach when I see Penelope crash down from the top of Skull Keep.

"Penelope, are you OK?" I practically shriek.

"I'm OK," She says. "but I think I fell down near the front door. I can't get back to the safe house with the bridges still raised."

"I'll save you... I'll think of something." I whisper, the words catching in my throat...

I've got it- I'll use my Grapple-Cam... I could make bird calls to lure Penelope back to the safehouse

But wait, what if that doesn't work? No, stop it, it will, I just need something to protect both her, and the grapple cam...

Her RC car's turret.

I just hope this'll work.

* * *

As Penelope walks up the plankway, my mind freezes. I can't recall what just happened in the last five minutes or so, it's just so good to see she's come back alive- because of me!

"Penelope!" I chirp excitedly.

"Bentley?!" She asks, still unsure of her surroundings. "Thank you, I was really scared there for a bit. You saved my life!"

I saved... her life? I feel a grin creep over my face and say; "There now, let's get you inside and make sure that dust has no permanent effect."


End file.
